Here is the definitive resource on the fine art of making shirts. Author David Page Coffin shows how to create elegant, custom-fit garments for a woman or a man that have a great tailored look and fit perfectly. And, even more important, once you learn to make and fit a shirt -- whether you have sewn for weeks or years -- your sewing skills will be dramatically improved.

David shares the construction secrets of garments from the world's finest shirtmakers. Discover how to duplicate and even improve on these garments, using simple tools and techniques any sewer can acquire. Includes 15 pages of fill-sized patterns for collars, plackets, cuffs, and pockets.

In the companion video, Shirtmaking Techniques, Coffin demonstrates the techniques that are the hallmarks of fine shirtmaking and shows how to master rolled hems, flat-felled seams, collars, cuffs, and plackets.

"This book is great -- fresh, focused information on shirtmaking. David Coffin's approach is straightforward and logical...no sooner do you pose a question than he answers it."

-- Sandra Betzina, syndicated sewing columnist, author of Power Sewing and More Power Sewing, and host of HGTV's Sew Perfect

Contents

Introduction

Part one: Shirts Examined


Chapter one: The Materials of Fine Shirts

Chapter two: The Shirtmaker's Tools

Chapter three: The Classic Shirt

Part two: Patternmaking


Chapter four: Making Shirts Fit

Chapter five: Developing a Basic Pattern

Chapter six: Collars, Plackets, Cuffs and Pockets

Part three: Shirt Construction


Chapter seven: A Workshop in Precision Sewing Techniques

Chapter eight: Sewing It All Together

Chapter nine: Variations on a Classic Theme

Addendum: Monogramming Shirts

Sources of Supply

Bibliography

Index

Customer Reviews from Amazon

This book is very simply the best shirtmaking book available. It presents processes clearly and thoroughly explains their relevance to the finished product. Also, it has a great section of patterns for collars, pockets and cuff plackets... extremely useful. By the way, their placket construction guide makes the most beautiful placket I have ever seen, That alone makes the book worth its money!

This is the BEST shirtmaking book I ever laid my hands on. It walks you through EVERYTHING from start to end... just add brains and common sense.

David Page Coffin is an ergonomic genius. This book is not merely about the science and mathematics of constructing shirts for the 3 dimensional human body - it is a book about the true ergonomics of designing shirts for the human body.

The book offers insights to shirtmaking that no other book does. Page offers a profound and sometimes baffling expertise in pattern making and body analysis that forces the introspective reader to go beyond their learned knowledge and embrace the "ART" of clothes making.

Unequivocally, this book is a priceless compendium of an art that is all to fast dying away from this planet.

It's almost impossible not to create a professional quality shirt after having read this book. His instructions are clear and concise and wonderfully illustrated. I am now making my husband's dress shirts instead of paying $200 each for custom shirts- AND HE PREFERS THE ONES I MAKE! That's a victory that says it all for me! If you buy this book you'll have no regrets about it. It really is excellent.

I made my first prototype shirt by watching a series of youtube videos. The results turned out good for my first try, but I don't want good, I want great. I did many searches online to find a detailed, step-by-step guide to making a shirt, but I had no luck finding anything remotely close to that. So I figured I'd go the old fashioned way and get a book. This book is it. Exactly what I wanted. Detailed pictures, great explanations, and more importantly: reasons why things are done this way instead of that way. The author discusses his trials and tribulations, and shows his way of doing things, which, all-in-all, seems to be the easiest/fastest/most efficient way to do it. The only slight gripe I have with the text is that he uses some terms that aren't defined, and unless you've been sewing for a while and are well versed in the parlance of sewing, you'll have to look them up. But this doesn't detract from the book at all.
On the positive side, it has very detailed pictures and even patterns for cuffs, collars, and stands.
Overall, an incredibly useful book.

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